AWLITEB Chapter 28

"When you enter through the main building's front entrance, you'll first see the beautifully glowing chandelier in the hall. With this spacious central hall as the center, on the right are public facilities including the drawing room, dining room, and banquet hall, while on the left are private facilities such as your two bedrooms and the dressing room."

The maid explained in an excited, floating voice.

Isabella smiled and moved gracefully following the maid, but her stamina was wearing down from a mansion even larger than she'd expected.

The maid insisted that soon-to-be Grand Duchess should know exactly how the northern mansion was laid out, and dragged Isabella consecutively to the second floor, third floor, and even the rooftop garden where sunlight poured down.

"Next, you must carefully examine the dresses prepared in the dressing room."

"Even the... dresses?"

"Of course. When His Grace said he was bringing his fiancée, we put our heads together agonizing over what to purchase. As you know, there wasn't a single dress here before."

The maid opened the door to the vast dressing room and began removing clearly expensive dresses one by one, dressing them on mannequins.

"Please sit comfortably and look, miss. Other maids will bring refreshments soon."

"Refreshments?"

"Yes. I think I hear footsteps already."

When the maid walked over and opened the door first, maids carrying a lavish afternoon tea set filed into the dressing room.

A three-tiered dessert tray made of sterling silver and gleaming seashells, an Earl Grey tea set, and various fragrant baked goods still warm.

Things that looked filling just to look at.

"Um, won't there not be enough tables to put all of those?"

The moment Isabella asked, she saw a butler entering behind them carrying a heavy table.

"We thought that might be the case, so we brought one from the drawing room."

The maid said proudly and continued showing Isabella dresses.

Other maids poured tea into Isabella's cup and placed cookies on her plate, attending to her.

Of course Isabella didn't refuse good food and fine clothes.

She wasn't an idiot—who would reject such luxury?

But this kind of treatment made her somewhat uncomfortable. Because she knew she wasn't truly the Grand Duchess.

Receiving looks of admiration, envy, or camaraderie from people like imperials and nobles didn't bother her at all.

But receiving this kind of excessive attendance and kindness was, well...

It felt like a useless endeavor, making it impossible for her to enjoy it fully.

Isabella smiled warmly at the servants while being unable to stop her backside from fidgeting.

She'd rather read a book alone or train.

Then, knock knock—someone rapped on the dressing room door.

Hoping this might be her escape, Isabella shot up from her seat.

When the maid opened the door, Genos appeared.

She'd never been so glad to see Genos as she was today.

When Isabella approached him with a beaming face, the servants smiled contentedly at their two masters' rapport.

"Looks like you were having a pleasant time."

Genos said with a reciprocating smile.

"Ah, yes. Of course. Everyone has been preparing tea time for me and showing me wonderful clothes. But now that Your Grace is here, I suppose I should go."

Isabella grabbed Genos's hand and tried to leave the room, but Genos stood immobile as stone.

Isabella looked at Genos with widened eyes and tried pulling harder, but it was futile to drag him along.

"Then I couldn't possibly interrupt this time. I'll be discussing the upcoming banquet with the head butler, so everyone please focus on keeping Isabella entertained."

"Leave it to us, Your Grace."

"It's an honor, Your Grace."

The servants all answered with happy faces.

Isabella desperately grabbed at Genos's fingertips until the very last moment, but Genos left the dressing room with an attractive smile.

That traitor!

Isabella glared at the closed door with narrowed eyes, but soon had to sit back down in the luxurious chair at the servants' kind gestures.

Isabella, guided by a maid into the dining room, shot a secret resentful look at Genos.

Genos smiled nonchalantly at her while selecting one wine from among several the butler brought.

"Did you have a pleasant time, Bella?"

"Yes, of course, Your Grace."

Isabella answered through gritted teeth and sat across from Genos.

The table was so large that even if they reached for each other, only their fingertips would barely brush.

"You may all leave. I wish to be alone with her."

At Genos's words, the servants bowed silently and left the dining room.

The butler also left after pouring red wine into both their glasses.

Once the door closed, Isabella glared at him with full sincerity.

"How could you do that? After the dressing room tour, I had to visit the jewelry room and even the hair accessory room!"

"This place was built from the start for when I eventually married someone and stayed here. Though I didn't know there was a hair accessory room either."

Genos said casually, taking a sip of wine before pouring sauce over his steak.

"Hurry and eat."

Genos ate with one arm slung over the chair beside him in a slouched posture.

The sight made Isabella even more irritated.

Because he hadn't rescued her, she'd had to continue touring every single room imaginable.

It had been such an exhausting schedule that it included two tea times and one meal in between.

What was harder than her body was the uncomfortable feeling of being buried in that excessive attendance.

"You're uncomfortable with having many servants around too, Your Grace. That's why you want to eat without propriety like this."

"So?"

"Then how could you make me spend all day with servants? I had to waste time on such useless things for over half the day. From when I woke up this morning until dinner just now—all day."

Genos looked at Isabella with a roguish expression while chewing his meat.

That gaze felt somehow frightening, but Isabella widened her eyes and endured it.

The Grand Duke slowly took another sip of wine, then opened his mouth.

"All nobles do useless things."

"..."

"They gamble, indulge in entertainment, pile up sweets they can't even eat halfway and admire only their colors."

As Genos continued speaking, he gradually straightened his posture, wore a subtle smile, and filled his gaze with arrogance.

It was exactly that face—the one she'd seen at the White mansion on the Witch's Night.

"When appearing before commoners, they strategically show modest sides. But that's just nobles' fabrication. When before servants or mixed with imperials and nobles, one must act like an ordinary noble. Like this."

Genos said, pointing casually at his own face with his finger.

She wanted to argue, but with just slight movements and expression management, Genos had transformed into a perfect imperial.

"I'm skilled at adjusting, so I can dismiss servants whenever I want and act however I please, but you're not, are you?"

"..."

"So when you're apart from me, you need to train by receiving that kind of attendance."

"...Why do I have so many things to train for?"

"Because the best soldiers train the most."

Genos, who grinned, returned to his ruffian-like appearance and put a large piece of meat in his mouth.

"So I prepared other training too."

"...Excuse me?"

"Eat a lot and sleep early. I'll come get you at dawn."

Isabella couldn't shake the feeling that she was becoming more and more tamed by Genos.

Like a dog being dragged to a fighting dog competition by its owner.

But knowing that Genos was the only one who could teach her how to bite, Isabella shoved food into her mouth as he instructed.

"There's nowhere suitable to avoid the guards' eyes."

Genos said, having brought Isabella to the main building's rooftop.

Even wearing a thick cloak, the night wind was bitterly cold, making her body instinctively shrink.

But the sparkling moon visible in the wide-open sky above was beautiful. Enough to forget the cold for a moment.

"The moon is bright."

Isabella looked up at the sky and said pleasantly, but no answer came.

When she looked around at the strange premonition, Genos had vanished in an instant.

"Your Grace?"

Isabella looked around.

As the building was large, the rooftop was also enormous.

Imperial mansions usually finished rooftops with spires.

But Emperor Phyke had suggested that since the north was cold and desolate, why not lay heating under the rooftop space so maids could at least grow vegetables, and had the rooftop finished flat.

Like the large table placed at the capital mansion, it was done to remind them to know their place.

In any case, for that reason, a rooftop as wide as the mansion's size was created, which is why Isabella was now looking around for Genos like this.

"Your Grace?"

The rooftop was so large that Isabella felt like she was wandering an open field searching for Genos.

Then finally, she spotted Genos's form in the distance.

"Why are you moving around alo—"

Isabella approached quickly, then stopped.

A long fence made of solid iron stood before her eyes.

Genos on the other side of the fence approached and spoke.

"In the east, west, and south, there are families who take over and manage the territory when I'm away, but the north, which I consider my home base, I govern even through carrier pigeons. In other words, when I'm away from the north, the servants have nothing to do."

"...How is that related to Your Grace currently being inside a fence?"

"Of course it is."

Genos walked along, tapping the fence with his fingers.

Isabella inadvertently matched her steps with Genos's, walking with the fence between them.

"When I'm gone, the servants get bored. So they raise animals. Mostly sheep or dogs. Vegetables are just, well, to pass the time. Northern dogs have fierce temperaments and sometimes bite sheep to death, so we keep sheep in one part of the garden and dogs here on the rooftop. Right now we've sold all the sheep, and only one dog remains."

"So you're saying there's a dog on this rooftop right now?"

"Yeah. It even competed in fighting dog competitions. Look there."

Genos pointed behind him.

When Isabella looked at that space beyond the fence, she saw a large dog sleeping in one spot, chained.

"A fighting dog competition? That's interesting. Actually, when we were eating dinner earlier, I had this thought—"

In the middle of Isabella speaking, Genos walked toward that dog.

An ominous premonition gripped Isabella's throat.

"Um, Your Grace? Your Grace?"

Isabella grabbed the fence with a panicked expression and called to him, but Genos didn't stop walking toward the dog.

And he unhooked the dog's chain.

Click—the sound of the metal chain releasing spread through the sinister air.

The dog hadn't woken yet.

"Your Grace...!"

Isabella kept calling Genos in a lowered voice.

Why is that man acting like this, seriously!

Isabella even stamped her feet, watching him anxiously.

She tried to enter the fence, but it was locked from the inside.

Genos returned to the front of the fence, holding the chain.

"Your Grace. I don't know what strange thing you're trying to do right now, but could you at least consult with me fi—"

"Save me, Bella."

"...Excuse me?"

"I said save me."

"What do you—"

"I'm essential to you, right?"

Isabella nodded reflexively.

For revenge, she needed Genos. That was certain.

"Then I can't die. Right?"

Genos dropped the chain toward the ground. Clang—the loud sound rang across the quiet rooftop floor.

The large black dog flinched, then raised its head.

It looked around assessing the situation, slowly waking from sleep.

"Y-Your Grace. What exactly are you trying to do right now?"

Instead of answering, Genos pulled a thin, long needle from his pocket.

Isabella felt like she was going absolutely insane.

"What is that for...!"

"That dog knows it's not supposed to bite me. That's the first thing the servants trained it for."

As Genos said, the dog saw that Genos was trapped in its enclosure with it but didn't attack, only watched.

"But northern fighting dog breeds lose their reason when they smell blood."

Genos pricked the center of his palm with the needle.

Red blood ran down his palm and dripped onto the floor. Drip, drip.

Isabella looked at the dog's behavior in horror.

She could see the muscular dog panting and heaving its body.

"You can't kill me, of course, and you can't kill the dog either. That's the rule."

"...No way."

"Now. Save me, Bella."

The moment Genos spoke with a smile, the dog with rolling eyes began charging toward him.